Technological advances have empowered patients to become more informed consumers of healthcare. Accountable Care Organizations aim to improve care quality while reducing costs through care coordination across providers. Medical tourism has grown as an option with lower costs and the attraction of combining travel with care. However, care received abroad may not meet domestic standards and place additional burdens on the local healthcare system.

1. SASHA ATKINS
USCP 615
October 10,2015

2.  PATIENT AS MORE INFORMED CONSUMER
 ACCOUNTABLE CARE ORGANIZATIONS
 MEDICAL TOURISM

3.  Technological advances in healthcare promotes more active patient role
in care
 Personal computers gives access to medical information online
 Phone applications are available to track health and illness
 Evidence-based medicine = care formatted to treat individual patient
 Electronic Health Record

4.  Designed to give access to healthcare in more communities by
 COST-Reduction
 EFFICIENCY-Improvement of records/time of care
 OVERALL CARE –Quality offered

5. o COMBINATION OF
• Hospitals
• Physician groups
• Insurance agencies
• Other stakeholders

6. o GOALS
• Promote patient health through education
• Be cost effective
• Have consistency in patient care across practices
• Give patient autonomy of care

7.  INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL FOR MEDICAL CARE
 An increasing segment of the population seeks to treat healthcare disorders by
travelling internationally.
 The option to travel has become more affordable
 Seeing another country or culture can make option more attractive

8.  WHY
Cost of care is more affordable
Recovery time needed post-surgery
Location of organs needed for transplant
Surgery may be seen as taboo domestically

9.  WHO PARTICIPATES
Insurances
Uninsured patients
Patients who want to have procedure while on vacation
Travel agencies

10.  WHERE
The Americas-United States, Latin America, Brazil
Asia/Pacific Islands-Japan, China, Thailand
Europe-United Kingdom, Germany, France
Africa/Middle East-South Africa, Israel, Jordan

11.  Healthcare becomes more inclusive with the improvements gained by technology
as patients gain more knowledge they are more likely to ask questions of providers
and share more information willingly. This interchange leads to better individual
care.
 Accountable Care Organizations are tasked with meeting specific standards that
examines organizations to ensure adherence to ACOs goals that improve care while
reducing cost, build efficiency in pace of care delivered, and ensure that the group
cared for is given quality care.
 Medical Tourism affects where care is given. Patient travel to receive care all over
the world. Local healthcare loses dollars to foreign economies and have to find
ways to offer these services.
 Patient care in foreign countries may not meet the standards needed to maintain
patient health and local economy may then have to “clean up the mess” when
patient returns.

12.  A healthcare organization would benefit greatly from adopting a patient-centered
model of care where the patient could use technology to communicate needs to
provider and care is then refined based on the evidence presented.
 Healthcare would benefit greatly from uniformity to access of care and providing
education through ads, literature, etc. to patients would help to achieve patient care
goals set forth in ACOs goal guidelines.
 Adopting open-mindedness to options of care and respecting patient autonomy
could have positive effect on organizations image and be bring profit as more
patients choose to utilize local care as opposed to medical tourism option.